Saturday, September 12, 2015

The Best Movies from Books

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken KeseyAbeBooks: The Best Movies from Books: I adore movies. It's funny; if I spend two hours watching television, I sometimes feel guilty, as though I’ve wasted my time. But watching a movie rarely leaves me feeling as though I’ve just lost two hours to the brainless abyss (I will be polite and not mention the exceptions that come to mind). So I will almost always choose a movie over a television show. And even better than a movie, of course, is a book, and when comparing the two, the limitations of modern technology (particularly when compared to our own boundless imaginations), mean that books almost always win, for me.

7 comments:

Don Coffin said...

It's the rare movie that beats the book, and this isn't one of them--although the movie was three kinds of great. (Three cases, for me of "movie beats book": M*A*S*H, even though the last half of the movie is a mess; The Big Fix--Roger Simon wrote the screenplay and improved on his own book; Sometimes a Great Notion--another Ken Kesey novel, but with Henry Fonda, Paul Newman, Lee Remick, and Richard Jaeckel...)

Don Coffin said...

I will say that all the book=movie pairings at the link were terrific books and at least very good movies. "Wonder Boys" may be another movie-beats book.

Unknown said...

I agree about WONDER BOYS. It left out the parts of the book that I found a little tedious.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Totally agree on WONDER BOYS. I also thought Tobey Maguire was the most perfect casting since Julie Harris in THE HAUNTING.

Jeff

Jeff Meyerson said...

Mediocre book to great movie? Obviously THE GODFATHER is #1. JAWS also improved a solo book.

Jeff

Jeff Meyerson said...

So so . Damn smartphone.

Cap'n Bob said...

I have hundreds of movies here but I almost never watch one. But I'll waste hours rewatching pawn shop shows or similar junk. It makes no sense.